No child left behind

Sarah Share, Assistant Head at Leicestershire Music discusses what true musical inclusion looks like. @SarahShareMusic

I frequently visit schools and ask the question “Do all children have access to a quality music education and the instruments needed to support their musical learning?” Far too often the answer is ‘the children are fine and manage with what we have’ Is it right that children should have a ‘make do’ music education? It makes me wonder whether educational settings know the musical possibilities that are available for our children?

The Power of Music to change lives; The National Plan for Music Education (England), launched in June 2022 sets out a vision that a high-quality music education is for all It highlights a clear ambition to level up music making opportunities for all children, regardless of their circumstance or need and hold the same high ambitions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as for every child. It stresses the expectation for a much clearer focus on inclusion and access in music making for all.

A high-quality music education is the right of every pupil. It should be inclusive of all, regardless of additional needs, in both mainstream and specialist education settings. Schools should aim high with music – an individual child’s needs may make some aspects of teaching, learning and performance different, but there should be no compromise on quality provision.

NPME (England) 2022

In fact, the NPME goes on to say that not providing musical opportunities for young people with SEND actually denies them a chance to experience the joys of music and to progress in their musical learning

Our desire for music is profound. Wherever there is human life there is music; it is the expressive supportive soundtrack to our lives, integral to everything we do. And in its performance, it carries the rewards of individual achievement in shared experience, uniting each player with others and all with their audiences, in bonds of aesthetic union. To deny participation to anyone is to deny them a human need and right.

Stephan Hetherington, OHMI Trust

With this in mind, the NPME 2022 shares three clear goals for all music educators in order to attain the vision:

All children and young people receive a high-quality music education in the early years and in schools

All music educators work in partnership, with children and young people’s needs and interests at their heart

All children and young people with musical interests and talents have the opportunity to progress, including professionally

All children and young people’ means not just those who are ‘extremely vulnerable’ or ‘gifted and talented’, but the full diversity of all young people.

Sound Sense

For all children to access the vision and goals, and ultimately meet their musical potential, we as music educators, need to think creatively and ensure inclusive practice to support all groups of children. Musically Inclusive practice is about identifying the barriers in music making for the young people we are working with, and breaking down these barriers and finding solutions It ensures that all children and young people who want to make music are able to, which can only happen by embracing the opportunities and resources available.

Last academic year there was a total of 35,627 children with a physical disability attending school (Department for Education, 2021/22) In 2018 research was published by the Take it Away Consortium – a partnership led by Creative United – which looked into the music making experiences and participation levels of disabled children and adults The research showed:

52% of parents of disabled children said that their children experienced moderate or severe limitations to accessing a music lesson of any kind

Less than 20% of music educators believe that high street music shops generally meet the needs of their students in purchasing what they need for their music making. Over 50% of music educators tell us that “difficulty accessing a suitable instrument” is a barrier to their students’ music making

This research also identified that a significant barrier for disabled children to participate in music was a lack of access to, and knowledge about the existence of adaptive musical instruments and assistive equipment. Adapted instruments are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of disabled musicians, and make both learning and playing a musical instrument accessible to all Offering a way of breaking down the barriers of music making to disabled young people, it helps them to fulfil their potential in their musical making.

The National Plan for Music Education 2022 acknowledges the positives that adaptive musical instruments bring to our young people stating, “Adaptive instruments should be celebrated as much as other types of instrument, and teachers should be supportive of musicmaking, using these instruments, which may be less familiar to them ”

In response to their research the Take it away Consortium created and published the first guide to buying adaptive musical instruments. It can be found here. The guide is a great reference of what is available and details many of the extraordinary range of adaptive instruments that are currently available that have been specifically designed to make playing musical instruments as accessible as possible to disabled young people.

School educators must remember they are not alone when it comes to sourcing adaptive musical instruments. One of the three goals in the NPME 2022 is partnership working, signposting music educators and the local Music Education Hub to work in partnership Each Music Hub will be expected to publish an inclusion strategy and have a named Inclusion Lead who will be responsible for this It also sets out that Hubs are expected to understand and seek to remove barriers which young people face to level up musical opportunities. Alongside this there has been £25m assigned to the investment of musical instruments and equipment, including access to instruments or equipment such as assistive technology.

For some, music will be the foundation of a career in one of the country’s most important and globally-recognised industries. For others, it will provide experiences and skills which develop their creativity. For many, music will simply be a source of joy, comfort and companionship throughout their lives.

NPME (England) 2022

By giving our young people all the opportunities we can, let it be their choice where they take their musical journey, not limited by the resources that we give them.

There are a variety of organisations that focus on research and support for young people with a disability to access adaptive musical instruments Below are the organisations that make up the Take it Away Consortium to give suggestions of a place to begin your research on adaptive musical instruments:

Creative United

Youth Music

OHMI Trust

Drake Music

Open Up Music

Music for Youth

Technology in Music Education (TiME)